Chapter One- How It All Began
Annabelle Lee Poe didn't wish to remember much about her childhood. She remembered when she was eight, and her brother put together his senior portfolio. Some kids spent months preparing it, but Joey procrastinated, as usual. He waited until a week before it was due, and then wondered why he was stressing about it. That Friday, the seniors showcased them in the gym at Metropolis High School. Local business owners came to see them, along with representatives from major corporations.
That's when Annabelle Lee noticed she wasn't normal anymore. Annabelle Lee had changed. Something had happened the night before.
She lived in a small bungalow on the outskirts of Metropolis (near the Luthor Corp. Refinery factory) with her mother, father, and older brother, Joey. Her parents waited ten years after Joey was born to have Annabelle Lee. Of course their parents loved them, but many times Annabelle Lee couldn't help feeling like an after thought. Her parents were more involved in themselves. They tried to be good parents, but the point of the matter was they thought other things took precedence over their children.
After they had Joey, they wanted their next child to have a name that was… adult-like. Something that was distinguished and stayed in the mind of a well educated individual. So, with their last name being Poe (with no relation to Edgar Allen Poe) and he being a much admired author they looked through his works hunting for a name. They thought of Lenore, Berenice, Eleonora, but Annabelle Lee was the one that rolled off their tongues and onto the birth certificate.
Maybe this was why Annabelle loved literature, art, music, and any of the other fine arts. When she was a junior in high school she wrote a poem about herself:
Mother and Dad
Never follow a fad
In search of the perfect name,
Maybe Lenore of Raven fame?
Perhaps the outdated Berenice,
Early on would her life cease?
Or fiercely loved Eleonora,
And become a beautiful señora?
Fate chose mystically
To name me Annabelle Lee
Joey and Annabelle Lee were inseparable. He took her every where with him. Many of his friends thought she was a tag along, but Joey didn't care. He was the typical overprotective big brother. If someone picked on her, Joey was always there to straighten them out. He took care of her when she was sick. He was her best and only friend. He was the only one who could call her Annie.
Even though Annie hated sports, she still played with Joey. Her lack of hand eye coordination made her the last picked kid on the playground during gym class. You know, the kid both teams would complain about having on there team? That was Annie.
Which leads us to the night before Joey's portfolio night. After working hard all week, he thought he would take a break and throw the pigskin around. He practically had to drag Annie away from her books and outside. But she started to have fun. Joey had an infectious personality so you couldn't help but like him. He made her laugh, cracking jokes between tosses. The sun started to set, casting purples, reds, and oranges across the sky until they melted into indigo bliss. And then they were throwing by the light of the porch light.
Suddenly Joey threw the football too wide. It landed a few feet into the pond that separated Luthor Corp. property from theirs.
"Annie, get the football," Joey shouted across the yard. Annie crossed her arms and stamped her foot. "You get it. You're the one that threw it."
"But you're closer. And you always say youngest goes first, so go get it." He smiled at her grumbling. Annie walked towards the pond. She reached for it but missed. Not wanting to disappoint Joey, she tentatively waded in. Inwardly, she shuddered at the pond water oozing into her socks and shoes. She trudged through the slime and crinkled her nose at the smell: metallic, fishy, with something else she couldn't put her finger on. It was faintly smoky, almost like charcoal. In the distance she heard her brother yelling for her to hurry up. She moved forward and grasped the football, just as she slipped on a rock.
Abruptly, she was pulled under. She felt the thick sludge seep into her mouth and nostrils, choking her. When she opened her eyes to find everything tinged a sharp green. She waved her arms franticly trying to grab for something. A large strong arm clasped her hand and pulled up. Annie vomited on her brother and gasped for breath. He cleared her face and eyes and carried her to the house. All though the night she raged with a wild fever; she spent the night as a shaking, sweating heap in her bed with Joey wiping her forehead with a cool cloth.
The next morning, she was okay, but tired. She stayed home from school. Her parents were going to make her go to bed early and miss portfolio night, but she begged that it wasn't fair because she had been looking forward to it all month. Her parents being the people they were, let her go.
People filed around every booth, asking questions and giving the appropriate 'oohs' and 'ahhs' at various awards. From the crowd, a man dressed sharply stopped in front of Joey's booth. He was from Luthor Corp. and started chatting with her family.
"Yes, we're familiar with Lionel Luthor. We talked to him when he was buying the refinery plant behind our property," her mother, Helen, gushed. "He's such a charming man. So well mannered."
"Yes, he does have a way with people doesn't he?" the man chuckled. Suddenly, Annabelle Lee heard a eerie faint voice that echoed in her head. "They must be the family that lives behind the pond that we're dumping in. Looks like they haven't noticed the meteor rock smell or color. I can see why Mr. Luthor chose them. Seem to be ordinary. I wonder why he's so concerned they might find out?"
Annie froze and looked up at the man. Her parents didn't even notice that anything was amiss. But she looked closer at the man and heard the echoing voice overlap with his own. Now Annie had never been stupid, and she wasn't about to say anything now that would make her look crazy. All she could do was glare at the man as he walked away.
Over the years she discovered her experience in the pond had affected her. She researched everything she could about her newfound powers. As she got older, new abilities would show up. She laughed when she watch videos in sex-ed talking about the changes that their bodies were going through. She excelled in academics, in if she didn't know the answer, could concentrate on a smart person's mind to find it. She was suddenly good at sports; she could move the ball wherever she wanted just by thinking about it. Annie never worried about writing notes, she could make the writing appear just by thinking. Technology never bothered her. If she had a virus in her computer, she could mentally interface with data, manipulating it to her hearts content. The day she turned eighteen, she woke up to find that she was floating above her bed. With her telekinesis, she could make herself fly. She never misinterpreted someone's feelings because she could feel them too.
But her abilities didn't always seem like a gift. When she was a freshman, her parents went out on their regular date night. Annie went to bed early, not feeling well. She dreamt about her parents laughing and smiling. Then she felt pain and gunpowder. She woke up in a cold sweat.
At 3:15am there was a knock at their door. Joey answered. He was working on opening a bar of his own and was up late filling out paperwork. The two police officers stood on the other side of the door, the emergency lights on their car flashing in the background. Annie was frozen in place by the coffee table as the officers informed them that her parents had been shot in a convenience store robbery. By the time they arrived at the hospital, they were already dead. She sat there waiting for the tears to come, but all Annie could do was stare at her feet in a numb shock.
Joey took care of her and they slowly pieced their lives back together. Joey opened his bar, and Annie helped out.
She graduated early from college and became the assistant curator at the Metropolis Museum of Natural History. She was happy there. Her boss, the official curator often traveled to acquire artifacts and such for the museum. He was only there for a month out of the year for large benefits and openings. When he was gone, Annabelle Lee took over his job and made sure everything was taken care of. She did what she liked.
But by night everything was different. At night she did what she loved, donning a superhero costume and becoming a vigilante. She was Mystic. She never went out in the daylight as her alter ego if she could avoid it. Annabelle Lee Poe attended galas and directed one of the most prestigious museum in the world. Mystic helped the helpless, defended the homeless, and safeguarded her beloved city.
So far, things were working out. Until a gala went wrong.
A/N: tvdroid here! Sorry there's no Clark in this chappie! I promise there will be in the next one though. Doesn't Tom Welling just make your mouth water? *starts to drool* Sorry *wipes drool with towel* He's awesome. Alright, so this is my first ever fanfic. I hope you don't think it totally sucks. This chapter was to mostly explain Annabelle Lee, what she can do, and her relationship with her brother (they're close if you haven't noticed). I'm going to post a separate thing that sums up what she looks like and what her powers are and mean. Again, have some patience and give me some time to really develop on this, I have a feeling it's going to turn out alright. And Annabelle Lee isn't a Mary Sue! Please no flames, and (as always) RATE AND REVIEW! Please? If you do, I'll bake you a cookie the size of your head!